Lucknow: Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Hasan has said that she was placed under house arrest at her Kairana residence before she could travel to Saharanpur to register her protest and speak to officials, raising her concern over the demolition of a mosque there.
The Kairana MP said that a police force was deployed outside her residence as she was preparing to leave for Saharanpur. “To prevent me from going to Saharanpur, a large police force was deployed at my Kairana residence, and I was placed under house arrest,” she was quoted as saying by The Observer Post on Saturday, September 5.
She asked if it was a crime for elected MPs to meet officials over an issue that concerned people in her constituency. “In a democracy, public representatives are elected to raise the voice of the people. That voice cannot be suppressed by stopping me,” she added.
Her party colleague and Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari said that placing an elected MP under house arrest was an “undemocratic step”, adding that the BJP was stoking communal fires ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
Authorities demolished a mosque inside the Saharanpur District Magistrate’s office complex in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, September 5, after a court upheld an earlier order declaring the structure illegal.
The demolition was carried out amid heavy security, with all five gates of the Collectorate sealed and additional police, PAC, and Rapid Action Force personnel deployed.
A complaint was filed by Vikas Tyagi, a former provincial coordinator of the Bajrang Dal, alleging that the mosque was illegally constructed inside the government complex. It also alleged that the premises were also being used for commercial purposes, with a post office reportedly operating from the site and some rooms allegedly rented out to outsiders, with the mosque committee collecting monthly rent.
The City Magistrate’s court, headed by Kuldeep Singh, on July 17 declared the mosque illegal, ordered its demolition, and imposed a compensation of around Rs 6.41 crore on the occupants for illegal encroachment and misuse of government land.
The mosque management committee appealed against the order in the district court, which on September 2 rejected its appeal.
Later on Saturday, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi accused the BJP of targeting mosques, graveyards and houses for political gains.
He said these actions undermine constitutional and legal protections. “Muslims are being selectively targeted through demolition drives and other government action,” Owaisi alleged while addressing the media at the party headquarters in Darrussalaam, Hyderabad.
